Which type of microscope achieves the greatest resolution and highest magnification?

The electron microscope achieves the greatest resolution and highest magnification compared to the other types of microscopes listed. This is primarily due to its use of electrons instead of visible light to illuminate the specimen. The shorter wavelength of electrons allows for much higher resolution, enabling the visualization of finer details at the nanoscale, which is unattainable with light-based microscopes.

While light microscopes, including digital and fluorescence microscopes, rely on light waves that have relatively long wavelengths, thus limiting their resolution to about 200 nanometers, electron microscopes can achieve resolutions in the range of 1 nanometer. This capability is crucial for studying subcellular structures such as viruses, proteins, and complex cellular architectures, which require high-resolution imaging for a better understanding of biological processes at the molecular level.